Nice Video Alexus! WOW! And those things really bounce!
Good going on the assisted GHRs. Mine are coming a long.
thanks. you reminded me to do them. i have been really cutting back on… anything aside from snatching and squatting, really. not sure that i’m getting better at them but will make more of an effort to do them regularly. glad to hear yours are coming along.
the greens do bounce pretty high. as the weights get heavier they get less bouncy. eventually they should just thud. i like the bouncing - but it is really tempting to catch it on the rebound and do a speed ‘oh man i hate my back die back die’ deadlift lower. which (surprise surprise) really hurts my back. i try and edit that part out :-/ oh, and try and remember not to do that, too.
Lex, you’re pulling PRs like no ones business! Fantastico!!
And yes, you’re totally (over)analytical. lol! But I love it! I think its a good quality, and you’ll be the first person I come to should I ever need an objective eye. 
Seriously though, I don’t think that any of your warm-up drills looked bad or off, or anything! I think they looked great! You dropped faster with the hip drive than with just the drop snatches. The OHS are still a bit sticky (mine are too), but I think that’s just a matter of flexibility, which will definitely come in time.
I agree with Deb on the OHS, really get that bar behind your head - you might even want to take a few seconds in the hole to make sure your arms are locked out (turn your elbows out) and over your traps. Be the buddha! lol!
Great stuff as usual girl!
Seriously, another PB? Congrats!!
You’re really finding your groove.
LMAO Maschy. Be the Buddha? You rock =D
LOVE your GRUNTS!!! I am counting my rowing strokes outloud sometimes, but I’m pretty quiet under the weights…however, I might have no choice but to let out a RAAAWRRR!! if I were doing the Oly lifting like you. Also, nice improvements on the squats…Before you know it you’ll step under the bar and find yourself surprised at how light it feels. <3! Please enjoy some rosemary lamb meat pies for me. mmmm!!!
I like that you didn’t give up on that 37.5, nice! It seems like not long ago that 37 was a no go:D
I’ve never tried overhead squats, are they quad dominant like front squats?
I also do not have chin ups or pull ups in my workout, gotta get them in.
haha masch - love the buddah!! thought of him tonight and trying to get the bar over my traps more. does indeed feel much more stable over there though. thanks for that. and debra, too, for mentioning it
thanks nikki
bre - okay, pie it is. i didn’t need much convincing. will have to hunt out that flavor… i am usually pretty quiet so surprises me a lot that i’m yelling lol. thing is that yelling really does seem to help the weights go up…
thanks Charlie. slow but steady progress with my squats, yeah. and snatches, too i personally find overhead squats more like a back squat than a front squat. but i have quite a bit of forward lean in my overhead squat… i think the more you lean forwards / sit your butt back the more glute / ham dominant it is and the more upright your torso is the more quad dominant it is. but… i don’t know, really. chin-ups are good. i’m still proud that i can do one (took me about a year, lol). the chin-ups people do on these forums are totally inspiring to me.
TRAINING
eva / softball rolling
Snatch
bar warm-up. knee paused snatch then snatch at 15kg, 20kg, 25kg, 30kg
35kg 1, 1
36kg 1
37kg 1
37.5kg 1
38.5kg 1
39.5kg 1 PB!!! (by pink dumbbell ha!)
40kg 0, 0, 0.
the 39.5kg was ugly as fuck to stand up. note to self: MUST SQUAT MORE!!!
FRONT SQUAT (8x3 day first time at 37.5kg for all sets)
1x3 at 15kg, 20kg, 25kg, 30kg,
37.5kg 8x3. Some almost fails on the last rep of the last few sets… Will try 40kg for 2 or maybe 3 of these sets next time.
Bail.
I pulled my back just slightly doing hip extensions yesterday. wasn’t careful enough about holding my arch at the start / end of the movement (with upper body vertical) so trunk was in flexion with 15kg for part of the movement. must make sure i’ve got the range of motion before weighting it :-/
it will be time very soon for me to put the weight down on my snatches and work on technique with triples. think the bar isn’t moving back properly from the floor… crazy, huh, that my best clean is 40 (on occasion) and I snatched 39.5kg today. i do like being a weirdo
Its so funny, I was just about to comment on how its nice to see you pulling some heavy singles (and landing them! woo hoo! Another PR!) and here you go saying that you want to drop weight and work on technique - which I totally agree with btw. So despite you being a weirdo (ha!) I think you your training makes complete sense - switching between maxing and technique work.
I also feel like a bit of a weirdo with my training b/c its so squirrely! My weights jump up and down, i shift between hangs and full, I cut shit off and just concentrate on one part of a lift…I’m a mess. But to me, at this stage in my Oly training where stuff is still “new”, I feel like my sessions come about organically, so lifting in a specific program with specific sets/reps isn’t really necessary. If you’re landing snatches you should totally go for maxes - if you’re just a hot mess, better work on technique, if you need to get stronger for a part of a lift, you best do your accessory for it, etc, etc. For me its a total departure from how I was lifting previously where everything was calculated and regimented. Now its like every session is brand new! A little adventure into Oz…
I feel like I’ve been asking everyone this (lol! b/c I have), but what’s your weeks training look like - how many days are you O lifting per week? Are you doing any other training besides that? Sometimes I feel disadvantaged b/c I only O lift 2x a week, but I really like to do other sorts of training…i just don’t know what to do!
Sorry for the rant!! But its b/c i <3 you!
Oh! And sorry about your back girlie. Take care of that! But at least you know how you strained it - live and learn.
Man, I feel like I’m sore in some place or another ALL week…sigh.
i basically log everything i do. very rare that i do something and don’t log it. i think the summarized version is lifting 6-7 days per week for about 2 hours but about 30 - 40 minutes of that is soft tissue work / bar warm-up. I don’t play sport or do cardio or conditioning or anything else. Snatches first every day. Squats M / W / F (5x5, 8x3, max double / single). Trying to do weighted planks about every 2nd day. That basically takes care of M / W / F.
Try and slot in some GHR, Chin-ups, Push-ups and stuff on the other days. I do want to progress these… But I guess my priority is Oly Lifting and I do have trouble recovering if I do too much of this stuff so I need to be a bit careful with it. Occasionally do a few sets of high reps (for me!) on the leg extension, too, in the hope my legs will grow… But I guess my priority is Oly Lifting.
Need to get back into pressing / push-pressing / mobilizing squat jerk.
Need to practice cleans more - haven’t done them in ages.
That will probably fill up T / T / S. And there it is.
I wish I could train twice per day. Snatch in the morning and strength train in the evening. Not very feasible, though.
I like the organic approach that you mentioned. Autoregulate. Ramp. See how things go, see what seems best. I do try and construct programs and they are helpful for making me do squats and ab work. But I do need to autoregulate both weights and exercises (e.g., partials for technique work etc as you said).
Another PB… awesome.
That is weird about the clean and snatch, but it happens. Cleans are too scary for me, maybe it’s just a head thing?
Working on technique is good, I’m sure that OLY requires a lot of technique work.
I hope your back is okay.
Awesome PB!!
The cool thing about you being a weirdo is that it means you have the strength but you just have to unleash it. I hope your back gets better soon.
Masch I don’t think there is anything wrong with breaking down the lifts and doing them full, from the hang etc. I think thats a great way to improve technique, especially as you identify a weakness. Slowing down my first pull, doing pauses, snatch dl and hang snatches did wonders for me and I usually do one of those things or some drills between lifts if I’m not happy with how the previous full attempt felt or looked. I still try to get a bunch of hang snatches in here and there. Also, there is a wide variety of training methods and frequencies and 6 days a week is just one of them. You do what you can while keeping it enjoyable I say! You gotta prioritize and you have many demands I’m more of an obsessive one thing ALLTHETIME kind of gal so I do the every day thing because I can’t do it any other way.
Also, I posted this in Cal’s log but I thought you might like it too:
Peanut Butter Dance!!!
no wait. that wasn’t it 
good job Alex
Peanut butter dance sounds good to me!
thanks
Cleans are a grind for me, Nikki. Standing up 40kg doesn’t seem to happen. Too heavy, basically. But haven’t tried them in a while, so might be that I can stand 'em up now.
TRAINING:
sucked.
did not sleep well last night. hence weird posts to T-Nation at 3am… did grocery shopping (bit of an ordeal / ruck for me).
eva / softball warmup. bar… 20, 25, 30, just singles to get to 35 (which I now think of as my work weight).
35kg 1, 1
36kg 1
37kg 0, 1, 0, 1. first miss wasn’t pulled properly. second miss i got pinned in the bottom of the squat. some guys wanted the 0.5kg plates for the bench so i let them have them since i didn’t care particularly and they were going for PB I think…
36kg 1
did a bunch of snatch pulls (just the first pull). don’t think i’m pulling it back towards me very successfully.
PRESS
did some. 15kg 1x5, 20kg 1x5, 25kg 1x5. last set was hard. i have got weaker at these since i haven’t been practicing them.
push jerks 15kg, 20kg, 25kg (not catching them locked out - needing to press).
shoulder dislocates - aiming to do them with a clean grip. not bendy enough yet.
bailed.
just felt blah. cranky joints. cranky biceps / inside of elbow.
thats okay…
hey you went in there and pushed when most people stay home and watch TV. we all have those days.
It happens, my DL sucks compared to the fact that I can just about squat my DL max. Weird shit happens.
x2 to what Mainie said. You went in and sometimes just showing up is the victory.
Alexus: Watch those elbows–you’re training hard all the time. It’s frustrating as hell, but resting is important to do too.
yeah, nimain, i did
i’ve heard deadlifts are the one exercise where long limbed people have the advantage, Nikki, so doesn’t surprise me that your squat would be close to your deadlift.
i think it might have been adding the chin-ups and overhead pressing, Nadia. Need to be careful about how I add that. Laid off the upper body stuff today and they are feeling better already.
today was a bit blah… then some of the guys turned up and things felt better. Ended up taking 3 hours - but lots of chatting and had a nice social time as well as feeling pretty happy with my training nearer the end.
TRAINING:
eva / softball rolling warmup, snatch bar warm-up
SNATCH
pull to knee, knee paused snatch, snatch @ 20, 25, 30kg.
35kg 1, 1, 0, 1 - trying to get the bar moving back from the floor / keeping hips down. meh.
FRONT SQUAT (MAX DAY)
15kg 1x3
20kg 1x3
25kg 1x3
30kg 1x3
35kg 1x3 (did some front loaded plate squats between sets to help engage abs / stretch hip flexors)
40kg 1
42.5kg 1
45kg 1, 1, 0 - PB Got it today ha!
40kg 1x3 (rep PB) tried for another 1x3 and failed first rep.
PLANK (60 seconds)
20kg 1
25kg 1, 1, 1
30kg 1 (PB)
GHR (stick assisted) 5x5. these are getting better. will be able to just have one hand on the stick soon, i think
One of the powerlifting guys had words to me about getting stronger… Said I had a good squat except had the bar in the wrong place. He showed me how to put it almost in the crook of my elbows in a low bar back squat position. I’m going to replace my front squat max day with a low bar back squat day. That will probably be more effective in my aim of getting me used to moving heavier weights. He said he could check my form, too. Would be nice to train a bit more when he is around so will give this a shot.
Will reintroduce deadlifts, too. Under the guise of clean pulls. I can do them properly with getting my legs under them and keeping my hips down using my legs to move the weight, but am basically a bit embarrassed since I can’t move much weight that way. So… Dropped deadlifts because they were hard on my back (couldn’t do them and recover well enough to snatch as often as I want to snatch). But legs need to get stronger. So… Suck up having a weak deadlift, basically. Train my legs properly.
ok I have to say it:
I’m so jelly of all those PB
I know soooo corny. lol